Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack.
Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_.
I’ve been writing these new releases round-ups for about four years now, and though this doesn’t always happen, I sometimes notice a slump in releases towards the end of the year. This is far from the case this year, though. From a Nobel Prize-winning author’s latest translated work to books by some heavy-hitting fantasy and YA writers, I’m so excited about this month’s new releases.
Witness the devastation wrought by ancient desert gods, get spooked by an anxiety-filled Catskills thriller, and go on an emotional rollercoaster with a Victorian romance that is “unlike anything you’ve read before.” I am entirely sat.
Mystery, Thriller, or True Crime
The House Guests by Amber and Danielle Brown
For fans of remote cabins and psychological thrillers!
Unable to sleep and filled with anxiety since her mother’s death, Iris accepts a trip to a lake house in the Catskills with her boyfriend Eli and his friends. On the first night she swears she sees someone bury something in the backyard, but no one is around but her. She’s sleep deprived and no one believes her—can she trust what she saw? —Jamie Canaves
Literary Fiction
House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
The Nobel Prize winner’s latest is as introspective and eccentric as ever. Here, the narrator moves into Nowa Ruda, a small town in Silesia—a Polish village at the historical intersection of Poland, the former Czechoslovakia, and Germany. What she finds there is a town full of stories, and with the help of her quirky neighbor Marta, she collects them. She learns about the lives of Nowa Ruda’s saints, about a caller who wins the radio quiz every day, and a man who finds out he shares his body with a bird. —Erica Ezeifedi
New Books
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Sci-Fi
The Definitions by Matt Greene
Let’s kick off the end-of-the-year SFF reading with this atmospheric dystopian novel. It’s set in a rehabilitation home by the sea, where victims of a mysterious illness that erases people’s identities must relearn who they are and how they ended up in the hospital. It’s a haunting story of what makes them who they are when all is lost, and what they choose to define them going forward. —Liberty Hardy
Nonfiction
A Little Piece of Cuba: A Journey to Become Cubana-Americana by Barbara Caver
Barbara Cava disconnected from her Cuban culture. Her mother left Cuba in 1959 and made her home in the U.S. Decades later, Barbara travels to Havana for the first time. There she feels an unexpected sense of recognition. Her family’s culture was everywhere. She may not have been as disconnected from her Cuban ancestry as she thought. What started out as a simple research trip turned into a powerful homecoming. —Kendra Winchester
Romance
How to Grieve Like a Victorian by Amy Carol Reeves
If you’re looking for a romance unlike anything you’ve read before, this might be it. Lizzie Wells is an English professor grieving her husband in true Victorian fashion, widow’s weeds and all. She takes a trip to London in an effort to figure out what life holds in store for her. Meanwhile, she’s plagued by an almost-kiss with Henry, her late husband’s best friend. This book will take you on an emotional rollercoaster of both grief and romance. —Isabelle Popp
Graphic Novel/Manga
Flip Flip Slowly by Mame Ohtako
Ah, a book about books, perfect! In this adults-only romance, Hagiwara finds himself increasingly intrigued by— and attracted to — a strange newcomer who has taken to spending a lot of time at the library where Hagiwara works. —Eileen Gonzalez
Fantasy
The Last Vampire by Romina Garber
If you love Jane Austen and you love vampires, this book brings the two of them together in an unexpected way.
Lorena Navarro is so excited to enroll in a brand new boarding school that’s just opened up in a formerly condemned Victorian home in the New Hampshire woods. She sees it as romantic–Lorena is a huge Jane Austen fan–and an opportunity to meet her own Mr. Darcy.
But instead of finding love immediately, Lorena stumbles upon a coffin. She’s now accidentally awakened the last vampire in the world. Whoops.
William Pride is glad to be awake after three centuries but he’s confused, to say the least. He wants to find his family and wants to understand the world around him; he’s relying heavily on Lorena for it. It only seems to make sense he enroll in this new school, too, as it could be his way to reintegrate into the world.
Things seem to be okay, right? Except William then discovers he’s the last of his kind that could help keep his kind alive. Now he’s got to choose between protecting and integrating with the humans at his school or working to save his legacy. That he’s wildly in love only makes the choice so much harder. —Kelly Jensen
Historical Fiction
Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards
A sixteen-year-old in thirteenth-century Bruges runs away from an unwelcome marriage only to find a new home amongst a group of religious women. The Beguines are strong-willed, independent women who have sworn themselves, not to the Church, but to a life of religious devotion. But there are those who do not appreciate women practicing religion outside the strict confines of the Church, and as tension grows between the Beguines and a bishop, Aleys and the women around her will have to plumb the depths of what it means to sacrifice for love. —Rachel Brittain
Horror
Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher
T. Kingfisher’s horror fantasy novel follows a young woman named Selena who is in the middle of an unhappy marriage, barely has any money, and only has one true friend: a dog named Copper. Desperate for a fresh start, Selena flees a remote desert town called Quartz Creek in search of her aunt. Instead, she discovers that her Aunt Amelia is dead and that Quartz Creek is inhabited by more than people. Ancient gods and malevolent spirits claim that the land belongs to them, and Selena is visited by disturbing apparitions that seem to want something from her. —Emily Martin
Young Adult
There’s Always Next Year by Leah Johnson and George M. Johnson
This is a powerhouse, absolute dream of a writing duo. That they’re teaming up to write a holiday rom-com makes my dark heart light up.
Andy was going to shed her too-serious persona on New Year’s Eve, but everything she planned fell apart after she got her car stolen, threw up on the person she’s been crushing on, and lost her phone in a fish tank. It’s now time to hurry to do everything she can to save the family business from local gentrification, fix everything that happened the night before, and figure out how she feels about new girl next door.
Then there’s Dominique, who is about to score a major brand deal in his influencing work. It’s the kind of deal that would help secure the future of him and his family. But then some unresolved feelings about a former best friend bubble up, and he can’t hide them from anyone. It’s tough living in a small town and being close to people like his cousin Andy, who has always seen Dominique’s most authentic self. Can Dominique score this deal without selling himself or anyone else out?
This is a novel with two points of view and two different romances that emerge. It’s also a story about living as your true self and honoring what it is you really want–not what others expect of you. —Kelly Jensen
Children’s/Middle Grade
Sparkles for Sunny: A Lunar New Year Story by Sylvia Chen and Thai My Phuong
This sweet, beautifully-illustrated story follows Sunny Lao, the youngest member of her family, who is fed up of having to wear hand-me-down clothes for the Lunar New Year celebration. While she agrees with her family’s ethos of not making waste, Sunny wants to wear something that’s uniquely hers this year, and sets out to make this happen. —Alice Nuttall
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:
- All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved.
- The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
- Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
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